A/N: Okay, just so you guys all know, I've re-written parts of this chapter and changed it around a bit as they way I'd written it before Ana-Lucia was WAY out of character. So could you re-read this bit for me and tell me if it's sounding a bit better? I'd be ever so grateful to you all, thanks chickies!

Chapter 2.

Breathe in. Hold it. One…two…three…four…five. Breathe out. Breathe in. Hold it. One…two…three…four…five. Breathe out.

She tried desperately to calm herself, drawing air in slowly and rhythmically in an attempt to keep fury from pounding through her veins during her journey back to the beach alone.

It was not, however, working. No matter how hard she tried, no matter how many times she repeated Libby's mantra of 'learn to let things go' over and over in her head until she was muttering the words aloud through bared teeth. Even the struggle of walking across the uneven surface of the sand did little to distract her from her rage, serving only to incense her further.

Deep down she wanted to believe that the decision that had been made, not allowing her to join the rescue team, was merely a misunderstanding. A case of bad communication or perhaps even bad luck and timing on her own part. But she knew that Kate had been out to piss her off and she had succeeded in her task. She had accomplished what she had set out to do and the fact that Ana was powerless to stop her emotions running away with her so violently only fanned the flames.

Then there were the others. John Locke, Sayid, even Sawyer had been more than happy to choose the slight brunette over her, the woman that he was currently living with. Alright, Locke's lack of support she could deal with. Sayid's she had expected. But Sawyer's? She had thought that their relationship would have counted for something when she had been back there in the ring. Something more than a casual jungle-fuck and warm body at his back…and yet he had humiliated her. Shown her up in front of their small survivor society and the light dancing in his eyes had told her that he had done so on purpose. He had provoked her. In front of everyone. In front of Kate.

"Take a walk, Cowboy." she growled from where she knelt stoking their fire back to blazing heights with more force than was required. She had heard his slow, shuffling approach, his feet dragging in reluctance. He knew all too well that she was angry, beyond angry even. She was livid and he had taken his time following her, obviously not relishing the thought of what was about to pass between them and though that was a slight sliver of comfort to her, Ana refused to glance up at him, into his wary face and let him try and 'sweet-talk' his way back into her good graces…and her bed.

"You gonna let me talk before you jump down my throat?" he queried, voice deceptively level and even. Smooth. She heard him move closer, stepping around the fire towards her but Ana halted him abruptly before he could move an inch further, jabbing the flaming stick that she had been stabbing into the depths of the fire, directly at him.

"I said leave me alone." Her tone was dangerous now, her eyes snapping upwards and watching warily as he slipped his hands deep into his jeans pockets and shrugged at her. "I don't want to hear any of your excuses, trying to justify what you just did to me!"

Again Sawyer shrugged in nonchalance, sitting where he was upon the opposing side of the crackling firewood in silence. His blue eyes, reflecting the sparks of amber deep within them, considered her with an amused, knowing light and Ana fought against the urge to continue yelling at him. That was what he wanted. To prove himself right. She had never been one to let sleeping dogs lie. She wasn't able to let something go until she had mulled it over and cogitated about it to the point of exhaustion of both the topic and herself. It was a trait inherited from her Tia Lila. Analyse everything. Overlook nothing. And Sawyer, sat smirking at her as he leaned back onto his elbows languidly. Apparently he thought that he knew her so well.

She tried desperately to swallow her angry words and prove him wrong by giving him the silent treatment. She tried desperately, gritting her teeth, biting her tongue to quash the urge to lunge across the fire-pit and beat the stupid smug grin that lingered upon his lips from his features but it was more than she could bear. Her fury boiled anew at his arrogant smile and she could hold her words back no longer.

"You know? You are an arrogant son of a bitch coming over here after what you just pulled…" she snorted across the flames, throwing the piece of burning wood from her hands before fisting them at her sides, deep in the cold sand. And he laughed. Had the audacity to chuckle at her as if he had read her like a book. It didn't matter that he actually had.

"I coulda told you that one a long time ago, Sweetness. I ain't never pretended to be somethin' I'm not." he responded lightly, leaning forwards and resting his elbows onto his knees, lacing his fingers together loosely.

Ana-Lucia shot to her feet as if she had been stung, grinding the sand still trapped within her fists harder, the tiny shards and grains prickling her palms and making them itch almost as much as the desire to use them against the blonde southerner before her did.

Her jaw was clenched too tight for her to offer him a reply and instead she scuffed her booted foot into the sand sending a shower towards him and making him flinch, throwing an arm up to cover his face and protect his eyes.

"You just don't want me to go because I'd ruin your chances at getting into 'Little Miss Perfects' pants!" she managed to accuse finally, and she made to stalk past him, away into the night, while he was occupied with rubbing the sand and grit from his eyes. He was too fast, however, or she was too slow and his free hand lashed out, catching hold of her ankle to stop her escaping and sending her sprawling into the sand on her front.

"Call me crazy, Darlin'…" he growled from between his teeth with the effort of trying to retain his firm grasp upon her leg and dodge a kick from her free foot at the same moment. "But I'd say you're soundin' a little bit jealous there."

Ana fought harder against him upon hearing his words, letting their meaning, their teasing and mockery filter through to her furious, red-clouded mind. She managed to roll onto her back so that she was in a better position to fend him off, sand now coating them both, but she didn't care. All she wanted was to be free from him at that instant so that she could land one of her granite-hard fists into his face and leave him there alone. But Sawyer, since his slow recovery from the wound in his shoulder, had proved himself stronger than she was, even if to do so he had to pin her down with his weight atop hers.

She was powerful. He could feel it. Her ferocity and her force and her fury was breathtaking and he could feel her muscles coiling and straining beneath him and her skin.

She ground clenched teeth together in strain. Bone clashed against bone, responding with a squeal of protest and then he laughed at her again. The sound reverberating through from his chest into hers, ricocheting about inside her as if she had been the one who had released such a declaration of amusement.

"Here we go again, Darlin'. We already tried this once today, remember? But I'm willin' to give it another shot if you're that desperate." his eyes narrowed though not as smilingly as they had previously at her expense. He was too busy, trying too hard to keep himself on top instead of being thrown off and allowing Ana to rip away. She could see that the sheer effort was exhausting him…as much as it was for her. "I take it the standard missionary's alright by you this evening, huh?" he tried again to regain control of the situation by using the only weapon that he had left against her. Mockery. That was how Sawyer dealt with almost every situation. Crack a joke. Tell a gag. Taunt someone. Bestow a new nickname. While Sawyer thought that he knew her well enough to second guess her every move and reaction, she knew him well enough to realise what he was actually trying to do. Distract her.

Ana let forth a frustrated cry wrenched from between clenched teeth, ripping from her throat until it was raw, loud enough so that it resounded down the beach and automatically drew stares from the other survivors there as if by magnetic impulses.

"Yo dude?"

Hurley.

Ana-Lucia would have kissed the large man at that moment if Sawyer hadn't been pressing down on top of her.

"Hey Ana? You okay there?" his tone was unsure, obviously wary of what Sawyer's reaction would be, but beneath that, deep down, concern made his words waver. Coloured his eyes as she strained to look up at him in the flickering firelight. "Dude, don't you think you should, like, let her up? I mean, no means 'no', dude. Your Mama never teach you that?"

Sawyer pressed his forehead down onto her shoulder as he had earlier that evening when they had been forced up against each other in a more passionate embrace, though she wanted nothing more than to shirk him away right then.

"You wanna mind your own, Slim?" Sawyer sighed, anger beginning to creep into his own voice as he looked up, matching Hurley's worried glare with his own, darker one.

"Dude," Hurley replied, shaking his curly haired head resolutely and folding his arms across his wide chest stoically. He wasn't, it seemed, going anywhere. "I think you should let her up."

"Yeah, Sawyer, let me up…" Ana added, her tone bitter, eyes boring up into his as he sighed again and slowly shifted his weight, sitting back on his heels. She took her chance then, to scrabble away, standing and dusting herself down beside Hurley. She hissed something in Spanish beneath her breathe, making Hurley wince slightly before she spun on her heel and began striding away, the large man following in her wake, asking her if she was 'okay' and demanding to know if Sawyer had hurt her. But she didn't respond further that a nod or a shake of her head. Too many emotions raged through her at that moment for her to be coherent, or for her to even comprehend what it was exactly that she presently felt towards the blonde man that dwindled behind them.

Her Aunt's rule of analysis and deep, pensive consideration came back to her then, immersing her so far into herself that she no longer paid heed to Hurley's words of concern.

-oOo-
Sawyer watched her go from where he knelt. Watched Hurley pat her consolingly on the back before shooting a final glare back his way and Sawyer resisted the urge to smile and wave sarcastically or offer him and ersatz salute.

He hadn't told her. He hadn't had much of a chance to let her in on his little secret. The real reason that he had remained tight lipped when Locke had refused Ana's presence upon the search and rescue party.

He didn't even want to admit it to himself really. Not just yet anyhow. He wasn't quite ready for what such feelings within him meant, or how they would effect him.

He had previously always only ever looked out for himself. Saved his own hide. All for one, and none for all. He had never had any reason to act other wise. The world hadn't treated him fairly. People had either pitied him or hated him until she had come along and she had felt neither emotion towards him…until he had screwed it up. Quite possibly she now despised him.

But to put it bluntly, he had been afraid. For the first time since his Momma had died. Since his Daddy had gone mad. Since he had murdered an innocent man in cold blood. He felt fear prickling the skin, making the hairs on the back of his neck bristle as it seeded itself deep in his chest, clawing at him more fiercely with every step she took away from their shelter.

He hadn't wanted her to go. Not because he had wanted to try it on with Kate again, as Ana had believed and accused. Not even because he hadn't wanted her there. He felt safer with her at his side than with anyone else he had met, let alone on the island post crash. He didn't want her to get hurt. He didn't want to put her in danger. He didn't want to run the risk of having her die on him now that he had suddenly begun to feel something that he had never thought he would feel again…Hope.

-oOo-